But she didn’t want to talk with him. She only wanted to put a million miles between this cheating dog and herself. Damien quickly got into house shoes and pulled on a robe. He reached the top of the stairs as she went out the front door, slamming it behind her.
Outside, Stevie was a fleet runner and she had a head start on him. He saw her ahead of him, running against the traffic and he groaned as he ran, the slippers holding him back. At least she had on flats and wouldn’t stumble.
As Stevie ran, it seemed to her it was the end of the world. She would have liked to run forever the air was so cool now, an aberrant night in the July heat. Her heart hurt unbearably and she felt lightheaded as she fought to stifle the vision of a nearly naked Honi lying on her, Stevie’s, bed. Her own breath threatened to strangle her and she wanted to fight someone—anyone—with all the furious energy she felt. Fight? She laughed scornfully to herself. Try kill.
She had been completely sympathetic with Damien’s fear of love, but they both had sworn respect and integrity. That didn’t permit falling into an ex-love’s arms at the first opportunity. But running, she thought of her possible baby. Maybe it would be better if the blood test for pregnancy proved negative. Suddenly she was blinded by light.
Behind her she could hear Damien calling, “Stevie! Please wait!” And she thought bitterly, Wait for what? More heartbreak?
Thank God he was gaining on her, he thought, his feet fueled by desperation. His hope immediately changed to fear when he saw the big car with the tinted windows coming at her on the road that held no other cars at the moment. Then he was there, but so was the car. He pushed Stevie out of the way as she screamed and rolled into a shallow ditch. His side took partial impact of the hit and he went down as the car raced away.
He fought to stay conscious and crawled to where Stevie lay in the ditch, moaning.
“Baby, just take it easy. I’m going to call an ambulance.” He thought about the fact that he had no cell phone with him. But luckily, headlights were on the road and he knew a moment of panic lest the same car was coming back, but the man slowed and then stopped and got out.
“We’re hit, my wife and I,” Damien explained. “Please call an ambulance.”
They determined that Damien could stand up and the driver decided to take them to the hospital in his car after calling ahead. The driver got a big flashlight and shone it on Stevie and they saw with horror that she was bleeding profusely from gashes on her thigh and arm where she had fallen on a jagged broken bottle.
Working with the driver, Damien tore off his robe and his pajama top and with his teeth and with the driver’s knife they fashioned a tourniquet for her arm. He applied what little he knew about first aid, then together they got Stevie into the back seat of the car and Damien got in with her.
After what seemed hours, Stevie lay on an emergency room bed. They had tended her wounds and stanched the flow of blood. A young emergency doctor tended to her, then talked with Damien.
“She’s lost a lot of blood and I don’t like her vital signs. She seems in shock.”
Damien could say nothing. He knew what had caused the shock. He and Honi and that damnable scene. But he wasn’t guilty. Okay, Stevie didn’t know that.
“The wounds are simple, but deep,” the doctor said. “I’m just worried about what seems to be her state of mind, as best I can tell with her out like this. She’s hardly breathing.”
Back in, Damien caught Stevie’s hand and said, “Please don’t give up, baby. I love you. I love you so much.”
Hot tears rushed to his eyes then because he had finally realized the truth. He had loved Stevie all along. Not just simple words he managed to say in the last couple of weeks, he really loved this woman. He had loved her since she’d rescued him from the debacle with Honi. Yeah, he’d had the good sense to marry her anyway, but he knew she loved him. She’d said it outright, but it was also in her eyes, in the way she gave herself to him completely, holding back nothing. And what had he given her? His name, sworn honor, respect, integrity. Some integrity when you came home unexpectedly and thought you’d found your husband in bed with another woman—a woman he had loved although he said he couldn’t love you because he was too damaged ever to love again. It hit him then. Before he’d married Stevie, he’d kept Honi off his back. After he’d married, he’d let Honi get to him, seemed to welcome her advances and he knew why now. He’d been fighting his natural urge to love Stevie. He never intended to get hurt again. What a coward he was, he thought. Now he could lose everything.
There were strangling sobs in his throat. “Wake up, Stevie. I’ve got to tell you how much I love you. I’ve loved you all the time and been too big a fool to realize it. Oh God, please wake up.”
Damien was restless as they treated his deep bruises. He didn’t want to leave Stevie’s side. Hours later, Stevie lay on the high white hospital bed with Damien at her side and wandered in her own world with pain so deep it didn’t matter anymore.
Well, he was going to tell her again and again he loved her, and finally her eyelids fluttered awake with him saying it.
“Damien?”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m here, baby, and I love you. I love you so much.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to say that. It’s all right…”
“I love you,” he said again. “I’ve been such a fool.”
She stirred then. She was dreaming, she thought, because Damien was saying he loved her and it seemed like more than just words this time. How sad that she needed his love so badly she had to imagine it. Her body felt stiff, unreal and why was everything so white around her? It came to her quickly that she was in a hospital.
“Why am I here?” she asked him in a faint voice. “What happened?”
He squeezed her hand again. “Don’t talk. I’ll tell you later. The important thing is you’re awake. You’re back with me and I love you.”
She shook her head; it hurt. “No, you don’t love me and it’s all right. We can’t help who we love. Honi’s a beautiful woman and you love beautiful women.”
Damien snorted. “You’re more beautiful than all the Honis in the world and I love you. Have you heard me at all, Stevie? Please believe me.”
Her face was somber. “You love Honi. You’ll always love her.”
“No, I don’t. I love you.”
She seemed to rally then. “You’ve got a soft heart. I’ve been hurt and you’ll do anything to help me get well. It’s all right. If you feel our marriage was a mistake, I’ll give you a divorce and you can marry Honi.”
“Stop it!” he told her. “I want you and nobody else. I’ve known that all along. I was just too big a coward to let myself love you. But you’ve got me on your hands forever. I have that much sense.”
Her eyes searched his face and she began to laugh softly. “You’re such a teddy bear. No, you don’t love me, but you think it’s the right thing to do.”
“It’s the only thing I want.” He felt sad that she didn’t believe him.
She thought then about the possible baby, wondering if she should tell him, but her heart took over. “I was rushing back to tell you I took the early pregnancy test and it was positive. Of course—”
He stood up then, wanting to crush her to him, but he couldn’t, so he sat back down, tears streaming down his face. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s wonderful news.”
“I have to have a blood test, as I was going to say.”
He nodded enthusiastically. “It’ll be positive.”
“I started not to tell you, but you need to know. We could stay together long enough to give the baby some kind of foundation, then you could move on…”
He flung up his hands in exasperation. “Stevie, haven’t you heard a word I’ve been saying? We stay married, you and I. If you want to leave, I won’t let you. We’re hitched, baby, for the rest of our lives.”
The doctor assigned to Stevie came in then and smiled at them. “Well, from my check of your vitals, I’d
say we’ve got a miracle on our hands. The bleeding has almost stopped and it’s plain you’re in good spirits. They say I work miracles. I guess this proves it.”
Chapter 21
“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”
Stevie came from half sleep to find a haggard Damien sitting on her hospital bed. Her sleep had been almost dreamless and she felt rested until she saw her bandages and felt mild pain.
“Well enough.” From habit she began to lean toward him for her morning kiss. Then she remembered and stiffened, fell silent.
He took her hand. “You’ve got a day of testing. The doctor said you can’t have visitors until afternoon. Stevie, you know I will keep telling you I love you. You know how stubborn I am.”
“I know.”
“Then you’ll know why I’m going to keep telling you I love you. You set my life back on track when we married. Now with the baby I’ve got it all. But you’re suffering, and nothing happened between me and Honi. I swear it.”
She wished he hadn’t brought it up so early. The pain had fogged her brain and that was a blessed relief. Now the whole scenario pressed in on her, and her heart felt as if it would just give up.
“Believe I love you and I have ever since you saved me from myself. I just couldn’t let myself know it.”
She patted his hand. “It’s all right, Damien. You got caught up in a wild moment and you lost control.” She wondered how she could seem so calm when she was seething inside.
He felt like yelling like a frustrated child as he shook his head vehemently. “Oh, I know I sound like the worst kind of cad to say it, but I think Honi laced my drink with something. I’ve had more to drink before than I had to drink that night and I’ve held it well…”
She looked at him sharply. “Anything’s possible, I suppose, but now you know what love can make you do. It throws you for a loop sometimes.”
“Your love threw me for a loop and I’m yours forever.” His voice got wistful then. “Let me kiss you.”
“No. Not now. I’ve got to have time to think about this.” His words had had an effect. Honi was certainly capable of spiking his drink, but only because she still felt his love surrounding her, Stevie thought. Love was the bottom line here, and no matter how many times he said he loved her, it didn’t have to be the truth. He felt guilty and he wanted her to get well. That’s all.
A grim Detective Rollins was there early. His sympathetic presence soothed her as he picked up a chair and got full particulars from Damien and her.
“Thank God you were lucky,” he said slowly. “We’re moving heaven and earth to see that this doesn’t happen again. I’ll check on you later.”
The doctor came early on his rounds, drew the curtain around her and probed her body. When he’d finished, he told them, “Well, you’re doing fine. The thigh cut is deep. The arm cut isn’t as bad. The blood tests we ran when you came in prove pregnancy. Congratulations. Were you aware of that?”
Stevie smiled. “I took an early pregnancy test that said I am.”
The doctor nodded. “Well, the fetus isn’t in any danger and you’re going to be fine. I’m in the hospital several times today and I’ll talk with you later. You’re going to have to take it easy for a while, but you’re doing well. Is this your first child?”
Stevie nodded, wanted to say, Yes, and it complicates things. I would have walked away, heartbroken but sure I was doing the right thing. Now…
The doctor’s smile was warm, reassuring. “You’ll be here a couple of days just to make certain. We don’t put people out quickly. We also need to get you to see your OB so they can get you on a prenatal vitamin regimen.” He patted her shoulder and shook Damien’s hand, offering congratulations again.
The morning tests went well with no complications. Jessi, Nick, Rip and Mia were her first visitors. They all stood around her bed.
“Mind telling me what happened, lady?” Jessi asked in mock consternation.
Stevie felt her eyes fill with hot tears. “We’ll talk later, Jessi. Not now.”
Jessi nodded. “I can bumble sometimes. Of course.”
Stevie saw then that Mia carried a beautiful package done in gold foil with gold bells. She held it out to Stevie. “Do you hurt?” the little girl asked.
“You bet I hurt,” Stevie said, “but I’ll be okay. Thank you for asking. What’s in the package?”
“Candy,” Mia said. “Mommy said if you open it, I can have a piece.”
Nick laughed. “Mia, baby, let her open it in her own time. It isn’t like you don’t get your share of candy.”
“I like choc-lit,” Mia said stubbornly.
Stevie took the package and opened it to find a luscious array of fine Belgian chocolates. She held out the box to Mia who took one. “No, take two. You deserve them for holding the box all this time and not tearing into it.”
Mia laughed delightedly and repeated, “I love choc-lit.”
While the Coltons were there, the florist delivered their flowers, a large arrangement of roses, snapdragons, lilies and broadleaf and maidenhair fern.
“Oh they’re lovely,” Stevie cried. She asked the nurse to put them in a vase by her bedside.
“Hey, Damien, you’re mouse-quiet. I know you’re worried, but she’s gonna be okay.” Nick was ebullient and wanted to cheer Damien up.
“I’m just thinking,” Damien responded. “We’ve been through a nasty round and I’m just thanking God that Stevie’ll be all right.”
“We all are thanking Him,” Jessi said.
Rip shook his head. He had said nothing since he came in. “It just doesn’t seem like you at all, lying there. I’m used to seeing you bounce. You get well in a hurry.”
Stevie had to laugh because he sounded so grown-up. “Point well taken,” she told him. “Catch my drift in a week or two. I’ll be going through the roof.”
The family didn’t stay too long. It was one of the biggest club nights, a Saturday, and they had to get started setting up for the crowd.
A surprise visitor, Sam Pearce, Stevie’s manager, arrived. “Well, I just can’t turn my back on you a second, can I?” he teased her. “What have you gone and done to yourself now?”
Stevie looked at him drolly. “I seem to have run into a car.”
Sam’s face grew sober as she winced with a bit of pain. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Sure. I’m tough. You know that.”
She saw then that he carried the Nashville morning paper turned to the society pages and her photo was on the front page of that section. He held it out to Damien, who sat in a chair on the other side of the bed, and told him, “Hey, Damien, take a gander at this. It looks like our girl tore the place up in Atlanta last night. I can’t wait to see what Variety and Billboard run when it’s their turn. Country Cousin was there and they’re doing a cover feature. Lady, you’re going to make me rich.”
Stevie smiled. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer man.”
Sam looked at Damien. “You seem down, man. What’s on your plate?”
Damien shrugged. “Just thinking about—things.”
Sam drew a deep breath, saying to Stevie, “When you get well, I’m going to want to know all the particulars. Leave out nothing. If I hadn’t become your manager, I’d have to be a newspaper reporter. Listen, I’m going to have to run. My secretary paged me with the news about your accident. I’m on my way to New Orleans. I want that to be your next gig.” Sam always talked in staccato, making you listen fast.
Stevie nodded. “We’re going to get interference with our plans. I’m pregnant, Sam.”
Sam wondered if she knew how beatific she looked. His mouth opened with surprise and he laughed delightedly. “Well, I’ll be damned. You two sure didn’t wait to get started. Pregnant women work wonders these days…”
“The baby comes first.”
“Yeah, I know you and Damien. I’d like to be the godfather.”
“Well,” Stevie said, “we were thinkin
g of asking Jessi, but I see no reason why you couldn’t both fill in. I think this kid is fated and he or she may need you both. Damien’s a twin so it could be two.”
“Done deal!” Sam chortled. “I’ve got five kids as you know, but there’s never enough of the little devils.”
It was late afternoon when the prosecutor’s flowers, lovely yellow roses, came with a note that he was out of town, but he’d heard about what happened. He called soon after they arrived.
“I’m sorry to hear about your accident. How’re you doing?”
“I’m going to be all right. Curt, I was going to call you today. My memory’s just about totally back now, except for the one point I told you about. And that has nothing to do with Jake’s case. I’m going to be able to do the job you want me to do.”
The prosecutor’s sigh of relief was audible. “Thank God. You know what the case has been like with Ms. Evans dead and you with partial amnesia. Since you’ve been remembering, you’ve kept me posted and it seems to me we’ve got what we need. I think McGowan is going to get the shock of his life. When we’re through with him, he’ll go up for at least a few years.”
Ben and Cina came in and they both hugged Stevie. Cina’s eyes were full of tears.
“You sure have had your share of trouble,” Cina told her.
“Yes,” Stevie said, “but it could be so much worse.”
“You’re right about that,” Ben said. “They say God don’t send you no more trouble than you can stand.”
Stevie offered them candy and they each took a piece, commenting that it was delicious.
“Well, I set a package on that table when we came in,” Cina said. “It’s cherry pie from just about the best cherries of the season, with whipped cream. I brought enough for you and Damien and whatever nurses and doctors you have. It’s a big pie.”
Stevie laughed. Her taste buds came alive at the thought of Cina’s delicious pie.
Next morning Stevie was awake when Damien got up and came to her bedside, peering down at her. Through half-shuttered lids she watched his concerned expression. She had been awake for a half hour. He hadn’t even gone to the bathroom before coming to her.
The Way You Make Me Feel Page 22